Effective Role Models In Teachers

Effective Role Models in Teachers

Great teachers have the ability to shape our lives. Some teachers come in our lives and out without a second thought. However, everyone has that one teacher that made a lasting impression on them and many had a direct hand in the path that that students decided to take. It was the one teacher that not only created a safe and caring environment but went the extra mile to be the effective role model that was so memorable that you could never forget. Many teachers today need to wear many different hats because of the society in which we live in. Teachers are playing parents, friends, nurse, and so many other roles. Creating a safe and caring environment for students is always first and foremost for teachers. In my life time as a student I have been blessed with the opportunity to have many teachers be effective role models, moral models and ethical mentor. However, Mr. Moratta was probably the teacher that had the greatest effect on my life. Mr. Moratta was my ninth grade creative writing teacher. He came into my life when my whole world seemed to be falling apart. My parents had separated and my father walked out on his family. The last thing I cared about was school. “Fractured families and the stress of outside commitments carry a cost that children pay.” (Lickona, 1991, p. 31). Mr. Moratta was the caregiver and moral model that I needed and I feel was placed in my life for a very important reason. Mr. Morrata seemed to take the time to make me laugh and to let me know that my thoughts counted. He made me feel good about myself during a time in my life when I didn’t even want to get up in the morning. After my father left my mother had to work long hours and was unable to really take care of us. Between the lack of supervision of my mother and the people I surrounded myself with I was on a path to nowhere. Mr. Morrata told me that I was better than those that I surround myself with and that I had a future. Mr. Morrata taught me the importance of responsibility and honesty and that you were only as good as your word. He instilled in me moral values that I was lacking or that were just so buried that I couldn’t seem to find them. “Moral values tell us what we ought to do. We must abide by them even when we’d rather not.”(Lickona, 1991, p. 38). Mr. Morrata taught me that if I wanted to be respected I needed to earn it, and that life is a give and take. Mr. Morrata taught me through my own writing how to express myself and that my writings were worth reading. I am not sure if he knows the impact that he made on my life but I think how I teach my children and my students is a way to thank him for what he taught me and the lasting effect that he had on my life by being an effective role model.

References
Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for character: how our schools can teach respect and responsibility. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

An effective caregiver.
A moral model; and/or
An ethical mentor?

References: Lickona, T. (1991). Educating for character: how our schools can teach respect and responsibility. New York, NY: Bantam Books. An effective caregiver. A moral model; and/or An ethical mentor?